Apparatus for cleaning pipes and tubing



June 18, 1946. J. P. RATIGAN 2,402,345

APPARATUS FOR' CLEANING PIPES AND TUBING Filed Jan. 5, 1943 INVENTOR.

Patented, June 18, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENTQQ APPARATUS FOR CLEANING PIPES AND Farce TUBING James P. Ratigan, Los Angeles, Calif.

, Application January 5, 1943, Serial No. 471,322

1 1 Claim. r. 1 My inventionrelates to apparatus for cleaning pipes and tubing and has particular reference to the removing of accumulations of solid matter in oil well casings or flow tubing.

In the operation of oil wells considerable solid matter separates from the oil in the casing or in the oil flow tubing of the wells and accumulates upon the walls of the casing or tubing, materially restricting their effective diameters and interfering with the production operations of the well. For example, on wells which are being pumped by mechanical pumps located at the bottom of the flow tubing and operated by a string of sucker rods extending to the ground surface, accumulations of paraffin and other solid material on the interior walls of the tubing not only restri'cts the flow of oil through the tubing but adds resistance to the movement of the sucker .rods, requiring more'or less frequent shutting v down of the well to permit the cleaning or scraping of the accumulations from the tubing and their removal from the well.

It is an object of my invention to provide an apparatus by which paraflin or other accumulations of solid matter on the tubing walls may be readily removed therefrom by instruments which may be a permanent part of the sucker rod. string em.- ployed in the pumping of the well.

Another object of my invention is to provide a device for scraping accumulations from the interior walls of the tubing which will constitute a. coupling member interconnecting adjacent sections or lengths of sucker rods and will act as a guide for the sucker rods during the normal pumping operations.

Another object of my invention is to provide a device of the character set forth in the preceding paragraph wherein the scraper substantially contacts the entire internal periphery of the tubing but may yield inwardly in passing small internal obstructions in the tube.

Another object of my invention is to provide a device of the character set forth, inv which the scraper is provided with a substantially cylindri- .cal exterior surface closely fitted to the internal periphery of the tubing walls but will present no cutting edges to the walls of the tubing tending to cut or scrape the metal of the tubing.

Another object of my invention is to provide a device for the removal of paraffln or other accumulations from well tubing, in which a trap is provided adapted to substantially fill the entire cross sectional area of the well tubing but which is adapted to fold upon itself to present a smaller cross sectional area, permitting the ready tubing and removing them from the well;

' Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the sucker rod guide and annular scraper employed in the practice of my invention; and

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a parafiin trap and scraper employed in the practice of my invention.

Referring to the drawing, I have illustrated in Fig. 1 a portion of a tubing string i employed in an oil well for the suspension of a mechanical pump therein and as a flow tube through which the oil from the pump may pass upwardly to the ground surface.

The removable member of the pump at the lower end of the tubing I is reciprocated by means of a string of sucker rods 2, adapted to be reciprocated by suitable power apparatus at the ground surface. In Fig. l I have illustrated a portion of the sucker rod string 2 as including an upper rod section 3 immediately to which is connected my rod guide and scraper indicated generally at 4, the rod guide and scraper 4 constituting a coupling member interposed between the adjacent rod sections 3 and 5. Disposed below the rod guide and scraper 4 is my paraffin I removing device indicated generally at 6 which, 7

like the rod guide and scraper 4, may constitute a coupling member interconnecting adjacent rod sections 1 and 8, it being understood that rod sections 5 and 1 may be a single sucker rod section or there may be any desired number of sucker rod sections interposed between the sections 5 and 1 as illustrated in Fig. 1.

The construction of myrod guide and scraper 4 comprises an elongated shank member 9 hav-.

ing a width considerably smaller than the diameter,of the tubing with which it is to be associated and is provided at either of its ends with a suitable coupling member by which it may be attached to the coupling members of adjacent rod sections. As illustrated in Fig. 2, the coupling members are female coupling members or boxes l0 and II adapted to threadedly receive the pin ends or male coupling members formed upon the sucker rod sections (see Fig. 1) though it will be understood that the coupling members on the rod guide and scraper may be male coucylindrical surface having a diameter substan-' tially equal to the internal diameter of the tubing I so that there is but a little clearance between the interior walls of the tubing I and the exterior surfaces of the scrapers ii. The web I! for each of the scraper elements I2 is preferably formed at the center of the scraper elements so that the lateral edges of the scraper elements are somewhat yieldable radially in the event a small obstruction in the tubing I, such as a slightly bent or crushed tubing section, is encountered in the movement of the rod guide and scraper, either during its insertion into the tubing or during the active reciprocation of the sucker rod and scraper assembly during pumping operations. By forming the scrapers 12 as a plurality of cylindrical segments spaced apart by narrow slots I4, the yielding action is obtained and ample space is provided for the passage of particles of paraflln or other material which may be scraped from the walls of the tubing. Also the supporting of the scraper elements by means of the webs l3 as shown provides relatively large area passages for oil past the rod guide and scraper element, it being understood that if desired the shank may be provided with shallow vertically extending depressions along that portion of the shank which is disposed behind the scraper elements such as is indicated at [5.

The construction thus far described provides for, a substantially continuous cylindrical surface of the scraper elements to be presented against the walls of the tubing so that the scraper elements l2 constitute a rod guide, aiding in centering the sucker rods within the tubing I while at the same time the upper and lower edges of the scraper elements constitute scrapers or cutters which will eflectively scrape or remove from the walls of the'tubing 1 any paraffln or other solid accumulations which may attach themselves to the interior walls 'of the tubing. To aid the cutting away or scraping of such accumulations, I prefer to form the webs l3 somewhat shorter in the vertical direction than the vertical length of the scraper sections l2 and to bevel or taper the upper and lower edges of the scraper elements 12 as indicated at l6.

As will be understood by those skilled in this art, the material of which the tubing is made is considerably harder than mild cast steel so that while the cutting edges will effectively cut or scrape solid accumulations from the tubing the substantially uniform ring defined by the upper and lower edges of the scraper elements will have no tendency to cut into the metal of the tubing.

By employing the construction herein described, it will be apparent that the diameter of the assembled scraper elements may be very nearly equal to the internal diameter of the tubing to insure substantial cleaning of! of paraiiin or other accumulations without causing undue friction between the rod guide and scraper and the tubing walls.

with squared portions l1 and I8 disposed, respectively, between the upper coupling member ID and th scraper elements I2 and between the scraper elements l2 and the lower coupling member II to provide wrench surfaces upon which wrenches may be applied whenever it is desired to uncouple the rod guide and scraper from its adjacent rod sections. Thus it will be apparent thatif it is desired to disconnect the upper rod section 3 from the rod guide and scraper, a wrench may b applied to the wrench surface I! I of that rod section while another wrench may be applied to the wrench surface H, with the two wrenches disposed relatively close together to facilitate the disconnection. Likewise if it is desired to uncouple the rod guide and scraper from the lower rod section 5, the application of the wrench on the rod guide and scraper at the wrench surface l8 provides for the employment of wrenches on the rod section and the rod guide and scraper relatively close to each other.

Thus, independent of the paraffin scraping feature, this device, when used as a rod coupling for interconnecting adjacent sections of the sucker rod string, provides a wrench surface immediately adjacent each of the connected rod sections,

thus facilitating breaking the joint at either the upper or the lower rod section without disturbing the connection between th coupling member and that rod section which is not desired to be disconnected.

From the foregoing it will be observed that the rod guide and scraper will scrape or loosen the paraffin, some of which will be raised to the ground surface by the fiow of oil through the rod guide and scraper whil other larger particles or heavier particles will tend to fall downwardly and may b removed when the sucker rod string is next withdrawn from the well.

To facilitatethe removal of these larger particles and to aid in the scraping of! and cleaning up of the accumulations from the tubing, I prefer to provide that the paraffin removing device 6 be located in the sucker rod string at some distance below the rod guide and scraper 4, as shown in Fig. l, the paraffin remover B constituting a coupling disposed between two adjacent rod sections 1 and 8 as by forming the paraflln remover with an elongated shank 20, upon either end of which is formed a coupling member 2| and 22. Like'the coupling members I0 and Ii, these ma be either male or female coupling members but for purposes of illustration the coupling members 2i and 22 are shown as female or box couplings adapted to receive the male coupling pins on the adjacent sucker rod sections. Immediately below the coupling member 2| the shank is squared oil. as indicated at 28 to form a wrench surface corresponding to the wrench surface I! described with reference to the rod guide, and scraper, and a similar wrench surface 24 is disposegzimmediately above the lower coupling member The shank 20 is provided with a plurality'of radially extending vanes 25, four such vanes being illustrated each disposed at substantially from each other. These vanes 25 are preferably narrow sections of metal cast or formed integrally with the shank 20 and extending radially from the shank 20 such distance as will make the total width across the paraffin remover substantially equal to or slightly less than the internal diameter of the tubing in which the remover is to be employed. To aid the passage of the remover As illustrated in Fig. 2, the shank 8 is provided 76 downwardly through the tubing, particularly when the tubing diameter has been restricted by paraflln or other solid accumulations thereon, I sharpen the lower edges 28 of each of the vanes 25 so as to present a knife-like edge to the paraffin Or other accumulations.

The upper edges 21 of the vanes are disposed at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the shank .20 and are all disposed at the same level so as to act as a support to a collapsible trap or scraping member 28 mounted upon the shank 20. The collapsible trap or scraper 28 is preferably formed of a pair of semi-circular members 29 and 30 provided with interengaging ears 3i and 32 through which a pivot pin 38 extends to secure the members 29 and 30 in pivotal relation relative to each other and to the shank 20.

Each of the members 28 and 30 is provided with a rectangular recess 34 extending from its inner edge, that portion of the recess adjacent the upper surfaces of the members 29 and 30 extending a little deeper into the member than at the lower surface of these members so as to provide a beveled surface 3!, permitting the foldinterior oi the tubing I if any such should remain undislodged by the rod guide and scraper 4.

To provide for additional passageway when the members is and 30 are folded upwardly upon the shank 20, I bevel the outer edge of each of these members, as is indicated at 31, thus presenting a smaller width of space occupied by the members in their folded position than in their flattened positions.

From the foregoing it will be observed that I have provided a method of removing paraflin or other solid accumulations from oil well tubing in which a scraper is employed to scrape or dislodge from the tubing the solid accumulations and another device or remover is disposed below the scraper so as to substantially an the cross sectional area of the tubing at some point below the first scraper and thus retraction of the sucker rod string from the well will insure the removal ing up against the shank 20 or each of the mem- A beta 29 and 30 to positions such as is indicated in dotted lines at It in Fig. 1.

When the remover 20 is being moved downwardly in the tubing l or when oil is flowing upwardly past the remover, the members 29 and 30 will fold up to provide additional passage space between the tubing l and the remover 6. Thus the diameter of the collapsible trap and scraper 28 may be made substantially-equal to the internal diameter of the tubing I, insuring that upon the upward movement of the remover B substantially all of the paraflin or other accumulations which have been loosened by the rod guide and scraper 4 will be trapped above the remover 6 and will be drawn upwardly through the tubing as the sucker rod string is removed from the well.

The trap and scraper 28 may also be employed to scrape or remove solid accumulations from the of the accumulations.

While I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, 1 do not desire to be limited to any of the details of construction shown and described, except as defined in the appended claim.

I claim:

In a rod guide and scraper for use on a string of sucker rods, the combination of an elongated shank provided at each of its ends with a coupling member for coupling to the ends of a pair of adjacent sucker rod sections and having a plurality of scraper blades disposed upon said shank, each blade comprising a segment of a tubular cylinder disposed about said shank in such positions as to define a substantially continuous annular cylindrical blade having a diameter substantially equal to the internal diameter of the tubing, and means supporting said blades in spaced relation to said shank comprising a relatively narrow member whereby said blades ,are yieldable radially relative to said shank.

JAMES P. RA'I'IGAN. 

